A “threat” against Christie from New Jersey teachers union?

posted at 11:30 am on April 9, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

The silliness over “threats” from political rhetoric may have peaked today, and this time it looks like conservatives are in danger of becoming shrieking hysterics. The Bergen County teachers union offered a “prayer” in a memo that asked the Lord to call New Jersey Governor Chris Christie home to his reward. Some will offer this as a tu quoque, but that’s as much of a joke as the prayer itself:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn’t laughing about a teachers union’s memo that hints of his death.

The memo is the latest salvo in a war of words between Christie and the union over wage and benefits concessions.

The Record of Bergen County obtained the Bergen County Education Association memo that includes a closing prayer:

Puh-leeze. It’s obviously a joke. Heck, it’s even structured as one. It may not be particularly funny, and it may be entirely tasteless. But no one can read that and honestly argue that it amounts to a threat, or even a serious wish for Christie to meet an untimely death.

We seem to be losing our sense of humor through an escalating tit-for-tat political-correctness war. Conservatives don’t need to contribute to that trend. Wouldn’t it have been better for Christie to say that the teachers union seems to be opposed to prayer in schools but firmly supportive of it to protect their own backsides?

However, we certainly can question why a teachers union is highlighting an accused child molester as it’s “favorite singer.” That sounds like a setup for a thousand punchlines to me.

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Sorry, can’t go with you here. I’m not offended. But lefties get away with the casual wishing of death / harm on Republicans far too much, be it as a “joke” or not. Time they started getting called on it.

You want hysterical, Ed? Try talking to my relatives (retired teachers and their adult kids) in NJ who last week posted this crap on their Facebook pages. They think it’s hilarious to wish for Christie’s death. But bring up the idea that ObamaCare may bankrupt the nation and all hell breaks loose with them.

I don’t have any problem with this being a news story. Americans should know what unions are up to, esp. unions of people on the public payroll.

Let’s say it is. Remember the left will take any speech from the right possibly construed as racist or inciting to violence, when it’s not all, and offer it up in a somber, accusatory, very weighty way, clucking their tongues, basically with the attitude of “game over”. And we’re supposed to smile and take this and forget about it right away?

Sorry, Ed, I dissent.
I liken this to the 9-11 report.
The left has been at war with the American people for 40-plus years, while we have not been at war with them.
Isn’t it time we engaged in this war?
Isn’t it long past time we engaged in this war?

The only thing is, as mentioned above, if a Tea party meeting or a church board meeting had ended with the same kind of “humor”, the libtards’ heads would be exploding and Mr. Ed and Obie would be showing all kinds of righteous indignation.

davidk on April 9, 2010 at 10:56 AM

But no one can read that and honestly argue that it amounts to a threat, or even a serious wish for Christie to meet an untimely death.

We seem to be losing our sense of humor through an escalating tit-for-tat political-correctness war. Conservatives don’t need to contribute to that trend.

You’re right about the fact that we are losing our sense of humor Ed… If fact, my family as a whole has lost about 60% of our savings also. My immediate family are all late 50’s and older now, have worked full time our entire lives, have looked forward to kicking back a little for the last portion of our lives, and now are looking for work since our savings is dwindling faster than Obama is apologizing for America.

Yep, losing my sense of humor is happening for sure.

Oh and by the way; violence from Unions members is taking place and will only escalate from here.

Don’t take the rant the wrong way Ed; we love you in my home and are grateful that you have this podium! But after all, hotair is about venting.

Hey they are PUBLIC teachers. Paid for by taxpayers with the threat of loss of property and/or freedom if taxpayers don’t pay.

The liberals/proregressives/statists in this country cry and bemoan use “PUBLIC” non-stop. [e.g. if one person at your private college uses “public” (government) funds via student loans then you are subject to all kinds of restrictions]

Then the PUBLIC school teachers in this union have reaped what they sowed.

No jokes about death to your Governor from PUBLIC employees.

You on the LEFT will be forced to live by the rules you want for everyone else.

And lefties YOU WILL BE ALINSKYED – get used to it. It’s down and dirty time to save the Republic.

Pretty lame joke. Dont know what all the hysterics are about. I guess you have to live here to realize it. I mean the typical NJ greeting when your driving is the middle finger, and thats if you like the person.

1) Offers a prayer in public
2) A spoken/written prayer, not a silent one
3) Acknowledges the Lord
4) Acknowleges said Lord as giver and taker of life
5) Asks for the Lord to take a life from this earth (refer to number 4 where he lists those lives taken by the Lord)

Poor taste. And I hope that memos went out this morning from other School Board officials across the country that “jokes” like this are not going to be treated lightly. Maybe not a firing, but your career just reached its pinnacle.

Sure, Ed, it’s a joke just like Julianne Malveux wishing that Clarence Thomas’ wife would feed him lots of eggs and butter so that he’d have a heart attack at an early age. Ha ha ha
DaydreamBeliever on April 9, 2010 at 11:40 AM

It may be, but if this had come from a conservative organiztion the left would be calling for their head on a platter.

We have to hold the left to their own standards. The only way to beat the left is by their own game. This isn’t the time for civility or humor. It’s a deadly serious fight we’re in. We have to go on the attack and stay there.

Ed’s right that it’s just a joke, and not a huge deal. However, in this decade of heated rhetoric, I’m always careful to control my own behavior and avoid making jokes in public that wish for anyone’s death except for murderers, who deserve it. I really don’t think it’s too much to ask any lefty group to do the same as I do, especially when they do things like construe Palin’s basketball metaphors as threats of violence.

In New Jersey you never are quite sure if someone is pulling your chain or…..even if they tell you they are pulling your chain.

The cuts to the gravy train trough are not being taken well and the unions are the major reason for the state’s indebtedness. Imagine if you own a business and a third of your payroll was for retired non-producing employees, how long could you afford to stay in business? Better yet, how long before you go bankrupt because you couldn’t compete with others that didn’t have such lucrative benefits?

First let me say: Christie 2012! Now onto the prayer, it is a joke, and in a sane universe would be taken as one, but it’s a mad universe. The tea party is being falsely accused of hate, and violence, so we have to highlight instances like this to prove that it’s on both sides, and that it’s so stupid that people begin to ignore it. We can’t just let it go.

These are the people we have teaching our kids. That’s why kids today think they can get away with everything, all they say it was only a joke. It’s only a joke until someone gets hurt or some nutjob takes action on something like this because he doesn’t think it’s a joke.

Ed’s right that it’s just a joke, and not a huge deal. However, in this decade of heated rhetoric, I’m always careful to control my own behavior and avoid making jokes in public that wish for anyone’s death except for murderers, who deserve it. I really don’t think it’s too much to ask any lefty group to do the same as I do, especially when they do things like construe Palin’s basketball metaphors as threats of violence.

juliesa on April 9, 2010 at 11:47 AM

Feel free to open your eyes and take a glance at reality anytime you feel like it.

It’s not a bug of the left, it’s a feature. Without the permenant smear campaign against anyone and everyone who disagrees with them, the Democrats would be about as popular as the Communist Party.

Speaking of not losing our sense of humor, I’ve got this great joke…oh wait, people can’t tell a joke based on Mrs. Obama’s appearance. Much better to tell a joke wishing for a political opponant’s death.

These are the people we have teaching our kids. That’s why kids today think they can get away with everything, all they say it was only a joke. It’s only a joke until someone gets hurt or some nutjob takes action on something like this because he doesn’t think it’s a joke.

Brat4life on April 9, 2010 at 11:50 AM

Like I said on the other thread, if a kid brought a pen knife or butter knife (or a plastic miniature toy gun) to school, it would be Zero Tolerance time.

Look, I know it’s a joke. We all know it’s a joke. But put the shoe on the other foot. If Sarah Palin had put something like this on her facebook page, what would the reaction from the left had been?

One thing I learned over 8 years of Bush and the last year and a half under Obama is that Democrats never miss an opportunity to put their opponents on the defensive. They never took their foot off of our throats. Is it right? No. But, look how effective it was in tearing Bush down.

Now, if we want to play by the Marcus of Queensbury rules, fine, but the Democrats won’t. And look where the high road has gotten us.

Every minute this stupid teachers union has to spend de-fusing this and defending themselves is a minute they are not on the attack. Keep the heat on them, put them on the defensive.

We have to hold the left to their own standards. The only way to beat the left is by their own game. This isn’t the time for civility or humor. It’s a deadly serious fight we’re in. We have to go on the attack and stay there.

darwin on April 9, 2010 at 11:47 AM

Now, if we only had a political party in the USA that understood this.

Democrats: Hold hands with terrorists, avoid saying anything that could even be remotely used as being offensive to terrorists, ignore their true motivation and all will be swell!

GOP: Hold hands with Democrats, avoid saying anything that could even be remotely used as being offensive to Democrats, ignore their true motivation and all will be swell!

Even mentioning the word effersonJay in any context automatically launches the virtual HA Predator Drones, not to mention Terryannonline and The Race Card would be rushing off emails demanding that the offender be banned.

Good point. These are the type too stupid to tell the difference between right and wrong, and have to practice zero tolerance.

True, Christie needs to remain classy, but we can vent. Christie could respond something along the lines of, “well, Mr. Crapolla dreams might very well come true, but we’d still have an $xx billion dollar deficit. I worry that Mr. Crapolla might not be bright enough to realize that.”

Anyone want to wager that this response was written by a \”spokesman\” or \”analyst\” which thought they could score political points by this response? Voters know this was meant to be a joke, and they do their politician a disservice by these kind of responses–it makes the politician look like a fake and a liar. The problem with politicians\’ handlers, is that they always try to make a mountain out of every issue. That just makes the politician look pathetic. Instead, why not have something witty to come back with–ala, that\’s kind that the union considers me their favorite governor; their reasoning is probably because the members realize that my actions in cutting parts of the state budget will save a lot of their jobs. You go on the offensive by making a legitimate political point, rather than going on the offensive by completely misconstruing what was said and making yourself look bad in the process.

Seven Percent is a hater! Ban him for threatening violence against the President. This comment will be cherry picked and linked to at LGFs, just to show how you hate filled racists on the right….are so hateful. I demand Ed and AP apologize, and publicly flog each other. Haters!

Dunno… but if it was posted here out of the blue the poster likely would get banned.

ya2daup on April 9, 2010 at 11:55 AM

Another fine point and one that works without even mentioning Obama. If a user were to write on Hot Air that they wish Governor X would be called home to meet his/her Maker, I would guess they’d see the blunt end of a ban hammer or be threatened with it.